Hi Matthew! Thanks for the quick reply!
On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 8:52 AM, Matthew Burgess <matt...@linuxfromscratch.org> wrote: > Just one minor point: > >> p. xiii: >> "This package package contains math libraries" >> should be >> "This package contains math libraries" > > Being a speaker of "British English" rather than "US English" I would > actually say "maths libraries" rather than "math libraries". I've never > quite understood why Americans drop the 's'. The word being contracted is > 'mathematics' (plural) and by the American contraction seems to be shortened > to 'mathematic' (singular, which I'm not sure even exists as a concept, with > mathematics being a collection of individual mathematical disciplines). > > Just a curiosity, and not intending to start language-flames :-) Interesting. I don't recall *ever* seeing the plural "maths" myself (nor do I recall ever using the singular "mathematic"). I always considered "math" to be short for "mathematics". A quick Google dictionary search appears to define only "mathematics"; and there are 8K references to "maths libraries" and 30K references to "math libraries" (so "maths" is not as frequently used as "math", but is far more common than *I* would have expected). I suspect that "mathematics" is like "physics" and "pants" -- it does not make much sense to talk about a "physic" or a "pant" either. :-) I'm sure we could go on and on about language quirks (in a very polite and instructive way -- no flaming involved). But probably not on this list. ;-) --Jim DeMarco > > Regards, > > Matt. > > -- > http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-dev > FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/ > Unsubscribe: See the above information page > -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-dev FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/ Unsubscribe: See the above information page
